A place for couples dealing with illness to find resources and advice, hear stories, and discover support. Whether the illness is chronic or acute, the result of disease or accident, couples can learn strategies for coping with the changes illness brings into our relationships and our worlds.
The information provided in this blog is for educational and support purposes only. It should not be used as a substitute for seeking professional care.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Chronic Illness Statistics: We Are Not Alone

Here are some surprising stats about chronic illness I recently found on a very interesting website, The Daily Headache, about living with and managing migraines and chronic headaches (written by Kerrie Smyres):

Nearly 1 in 2 Americans (133 million) has a chronic condition

96% of them live with an illness that is invisible. These people do not use a cane or any device and may look perfectly healthy.

Sixty percent are between the ages of 18 and 64

The divorce rate among the chronically ill is over 75%

Depression is 15-20% higher for the chronically ill than for the average person

Various studies have reported that physical illness or uncontrollable physical pain are major factors in up to 70% of suicides and more than 50% of these suicidal patients were under 35 years of age

We are not alone. And we have a lot to learn from each other about living with illness. In fact, there is a National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness week annually in September to bring together and educate people with chronic illness and the people who care about them.

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About Me

In November, 1999 I was whacked with a mysterious chronic pain syndrome that took me out of my life. With the help of my husband, my dog, and a combination of western and alternative approaches, I have a new life that includes working, writing, mountain climbing, smiling, and managing pain. I learned a lot along the way, especially about illness and the couple relationship. I'm also a psychotherapist, a business consultant, and have written a book about couples and illness, which was published in March 2013 (Roundtree Press)

“Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”Susan Sontag